From the Archives: Hiring Steve Fisher beginning of new era for Aztecs basketball
Steve Fisher, who coached the University of Michigan to the NCAA Championship in 1989, was named head basketball coach at San Diego State University March 26, 1999 Steve Fisher, who coached the University of Michigan to the NCAA Championship in 1989, was named head basketball coach at San Diego State University in 1999. Fisher is the former Michigan coach who walked into Cox Arena with three Final Four trips, a national championship ring, an NIT title and a.692 winning percentage. His duties in the NBA as an assistant for the Sacramento Kings end Tuesday and Fisher is expected to begin work at SDSU on Wednesday. He has agreed to a six-year contract worth a base salary of $300,000, plus anything he can earn on a shoe deal and camps. Fisher faces a monumental task inheriting a 4-22 team that showed little promise this season, and before Trenkle left he signed two early recruits.
Published : one year ago by Merrie Monteagudo in Sports
Front page of the Sports section of The San Diego Union-Tribune, March 27, 1999, when Steve Fisherwas introduced as San Diego State’s new basketball coach.
Twenty-four years ago, Steve Fisher, who coached the University of Michigan to the NCAA Championship in 1989, was named head basketball coach at San Diego State University.
In his first SDSU press conference on March 26, 1999, Fisher said of a program that was among the worst in college basketball, “I feel the Aztec basketball program has unlimited potential. This is an outstanding university that exists in a beautiful community. I can see no reason why this cannot be a successful, solid, consistent program and I have a tremendous sense of responsibility to make sure that potential is achieved.”
Bay gets ‘best guy for the job’
His search is over. He has a men’s basketball coach. His name is Steve Fisher.
“I really think this has been the most intense amount of time I’ve ever experienced in intercollegiate athletics,” said Bay. “And that includes a couple of NCAA investigations that I inherited at Oregon and Minnesota.”
The Aztecs yesterday officially introduced Fisher as the school’s 14th men’s basketball coach, hiring a man whose credentials are beyond anything the program has ever claimed. Fisher is the former Michigan coach who walks into Cox Arena with three Final Four trips, a national championship ring, an NIT title and a .692 winning percentage.
His duties in the NBA as an assistant for the Sacramento Kings end Tuesday, and Fisher is expected to begin work at SDSU on Wednesday. He agreed to a six-year contract (with an option for a seventh year) worth a base salary of $300,000, plus anything he can earn on a shoe deal and camps.
“I have the best guy for this job,” said Bay. “I do.”
Fisher was not Bay’s first choice to replace Fred Trenkle. The Aztecs heavily pursued Utah’s Rick Majerus, to the point that an agreement was in place as of late Monday. But then Majerus backed out, citing a desire to remain closer to his family, leaving Bay at a loss for words and still without a coach.
“In terms of success, (Fisher) has more of it than Majerus,” said Bay. “Majerus is a great coach, but Steve is a better fit for our university.
“The challenge that (Fisher) faces is that there has been more interest in this job search than any game we’ve ever played.”
So true. Fisher faces a monumental task, inheriting a 4-22 team that showed little promise this season. Ten players return, and before Trenkle left he signed two early recruits. Finding any kind of impact talent will be tough this late in the recruiting process. The number of scholarships Fisher offers might depend on which players return.
“We’re going to have to get lucky to get someone now,” said Fisher, 53. “I don’t want to rush out and sign two kids next week just to say we signed two kids. We’ll start in Southern California, go up the coast and use the contacts I have everywhere.
“I don’t mind shoveling snow, but maybe some of these kids in the Midwest going to Syracuse . . . Why not have a kid go from Detroit to San Diego?”
Topics: Basketball